Filed Under: Home & Family

Mandy has the doctors’ blessings to keep playing; she’s learning how to protect her back and mitigate her pain. And so we’re launching ourselves, without the usual time to plan, into our summer adventures. Our friend Britt had planned to go with her on a two-week train-and-bike trip to northern New York, but they decided […]

Bryan’s little brother Michael got married. I haven’t been involved the hustle that comes before weddings since getting ready for my own. It was fun to be caught in the edge of the whirlwind. As soon as we arrived in town, Mandy left again with the cluster of people headed to the wedding rehearsal. Bryan […]

When Bryan was a kid growing up just outside of New Orleans proper, his dad owned a small shrimp boat. He has lots of little-boy memories about waking up before dawn and trawling for shrimp. But the boat was gone long before Mandy and I were part of the family. Now Bryan’s dad’s (and brother) […]

When Mandy was nine, she broke her right femur. Badly. We knew it had healed slightly longer than the other one. About a year ago, her lower back started to bother her. Her legs were still almost a centimeter different in length, so we added a lift to her shoes, and she felt a lot […]

Post-Op The drive home was fine except I was super tense and trying not to cry. I wasn’t upset at anything but the whole experience was very stressful. I’m not sure if I needed more Valium or needed to wait longer for it to kick in. The multiple attempts on my left eye weren’t confidence […]

Op Typical doctors office, we have a 9:30a appointment and don’t go back for almost an hour. Once in the back, they check to see which is my dominate eye (right) and give me a Valium. They proceed to put me in a hair net and place booties over my shoes. My forehead gets a […]

Pre-Op I have been considering LASIK surgery for a number of years now, keeping an eye on my prescription to see if it was changing, asking various doctors if they thought I was a candidate and talking to friends that have had the procedure. Cost was always an obstacle, as was the fact that I only […]

Mandy’s out of town, leaving Bryan and I with quiet days home together on holiday break. On Christmas afternoon, it began to rain, and slowly the rain started freezing on the roof and on the bushes and on the trees. And on the street. And then it was ice. And little pine-tree branches fell on […]

We’d settled into the afternoon when Monkey sent me a text. ‘Can we come over and meet Foster Dog?’ Of course. Come on down. And, since it was Festivus, it seemed appropriate to just go ahead and get the Festivus Pole down from the attic and pose for photographs with it. Bryan made chai again […]